Judge to review petition to repair, demolish McIlvaine's home

Kane County Judge Thomas Mueller in January will decide what should happen to St. Charles resident Clifford McIlvaine’s decadeslong home-improvement project.

Mueller on Jan. 14 will review a petition by the city of St. Charles for demolition or repair of the property at 605 Prairie St. The city asked for a hearing date during Wednesday’s court hearing on the case.

“We have not seen significant progress on the project,” Phil Luetkehans, an attorney for St. Charles, said after the hearing. “The roof does not appear to be started, and the brick only goes up a couple of feet. We had expected the brick work to be done by now, and the roof to be substantially completed.”

The city inspected the project Tuesday. McIlvaine started it in 1975.

City officials want McIlvaine to comply with a court order to finish the project. The project was supposed to have been completed by the end of September, according to the order.

The city sued McIlvaine in 2010, pushing him to get the project finished. A work schedule later was agreed upon in court.

McIlvaine recently corrected the plumbing system in his house as ordered by the court and St. Charles city officials. McIlvaine had been warned that he had to prevent his cistern water system from connecting to the city’s water supply or the city would proceed with an application for demolition or repair of the house.

A cistern is a tank for storing rainwater.

McIlvaine has signed a court order saying he will not use it for bathing or drinking water, and the city wanted to make sure the system does not pollute city water. He recently had been jailed for two weeks after Mueller found him in contempt of court.